The Misadventures

THIRD TIME’S A… MIRACLE

I was recently looking back on all of our Christmas cards and reminiscing what life was like with 1, 2 and now 3 kids.Here’s a snippet from 2013 if it gives you any indication of the 2nd kid portion of our lives:Greetings from the Quinn Family!We hope your year has proven to be as bountiful and inexplicably unpredictable as ours. We’ve added a new addition to the grab-bag of personalities in our home. Little Man D will be TWO months this December! My, my how time flies…it flies like the pee that rockets out of him directly into my hair during diaper changes. Nursing is going well; if you consider “well” mastering the art of doing it with one arm while racing toy cars around the living room and shoving Pizza Bites in my mouth with the other. This act makes me look like a circus freak show so I may have stumbled onto a new career. I took him to Target the other day and forgot the pacifier. Thinking quickly I raced to the back of the store while he screamed, ripped open a new pacifier package, and shoved it in his mouth. I’m really hoping he doesn’t get Asian Bird Flu from not steaming the nipple first. We’ll have to keep you posted on that front. I should also mention that I forgot to buy the pacifier so I am now a wanted felon in the state of Massachusetts.

The transition from 1 to 2 kids was my hardest. It wasn’t because our 2nd kid was hard; just the transition was hard. You’ve got 1 kid that is used to undivided attention and you introduce a baby that actually requires undivided attention. You can do the math. Going from 2 to 3 kids really hasn’t been that bad, relatively speaking. Maybe it’s the ages of the older kids: a 2nd child that is used to not having undivided attention and an older child mature enough and willing to help out when I need it. Maybe it’s because I worry less and know more. Maybe it’s because I’m going on over 10 career years in the juvenile product category and I feel more confident and knowledgable in what I’m using and recommending. When people say they are on the fence about having a 3rd I always tell them: DO IT! You never regret a child. And 3 is actually easier than 2! At this point I’m usually getting a stare down from a husband. I’m not trying to say it’s not hard – parenting is hard. It should be hard, the juice is worth the squeeze. It just gets…more predictable I guess. 🙂

Every year we fly down to see my parents in Florida the day after Christmas. I have packing down to a science and this year I was lucky enough to be sent Maxi Cosi’s latest addition: The Dana for 2 double stroller, just in time for the trip. The baby definitely needs to be strolled in the airport and I like having the option to stroll my 4 year old since there’s a lot of shiny things in the airport for a 4 year old to follow, am I right? We would never get to the gate without a double stroller. It fit perfectly in our rental car – it folds down super flat, and it holds 2 infant seats (which we didn’t need but good to know) Check out this expert packing job – also could our rental be any smaller for 5 people and 10 bags?

The extra large canopy was perfect for blocking the Florida sun and the fabrics are so cozy the baby fell right asleep on schedule so no having to leave the beach to get back to his crib.If you are in the market for a double stroller I highly recommend this miracle product.

I loved seeing the interaction of my kids with my parents and extended family. The holidays are a great time to reflect and be thankful, aren’t they? I received a Christmas card from a family we had met down in Florida 2 years ago. (You can read about their son William’s story, here.) I was happy to see they have begun to heal. In 2018, I plan to recognize and continue to nurture all of the miracles that have been given to me; from big to small…